Method of making cellophane sticks



May 5, 1959 H. E.-DAV1S METHOD OF- MAKING CELLOPHANE STICKS Filed Feb. 10, 1956 INVENTOR 82129 Z3 0am"? Y f ATTORNEYS lllunkciii United States Pate METHOD OF MAKING CELLOPHANE STICKS Harry E. Davis, Akron, Ohio Application February 10, 1956, Serial N 0. 564,802

3 Claims. (Cl. 57-165).

This invention relates to the manufacture of rod-like articles of twisted non-fibrous regenerated cellulosic material and more particularly to an improved method for manufacturing said articles.

In my' prior PatentNo. 2,488,272, issued November 15, 1949, I describe a method of making from non-fibrous regenerated cellulosic material, hereinafter referred to as cellophane, stick-like articles of manufacture having a variety of uses, for example, lollipop handles, beverage stirrers and the like. The method which I disclosed in that patent comprises the steps of first tightly twisting together a plurality of adhesively' coated cellophane ribbons to form a rope-like flexible strand capable of being wound on a supply reel. From the supply reel the strand is withdrawn to be subjected to heat, pressure and tension, and in the patent this is shown as being accomplished by leading, the strand several times around a pair of grooved heated rollers while simultaneously subjecting the strand to tension. The strand is then led from the heated rollers through a cooling station from which the strand emerges as a dense rigid sticklike material which maybe cut into convenient lengths for use. As disclosed in the patent, the strand is wrapped around the heating rolls so as to traverse a continuous series of oval paths and'the tensioning'means illustrated comprises a brake on the supply reel and a movable mount for one of the heating rolls so that this can be moved away or towards the other fixed roll to adjust the tension of the strand traveling between the rolls. As the strand traverses the heated rollers under tension the adhesive coatings on the cellophane ribbons are heated to a temperature which softens or activates the adhesive while the tension on the strand forces it into the roller grooves to seal the ribbons together to achieve a substantially homogeneous dense and solid cross-section.

Though the means disclosed in the patent have been satisfactory to produce the desired product it has been found that more uniform heating of the rope-like strand may be. provided by passing the strand alternately over and under the rollers in a series offigure-S paths rather than in the oval paths of the patent. This has the effect of uniformly applying heat alternately to opposite semiperipheral portions of the strand resulting in a more uniform product. In addition to this, it has been found thatinlieu ofapplying the same tension simultaneously to. all parts of the strand as it travels over the rollers as would be. the case, when one roller is moved with respect to the other, it has been found that a more homogeneous product results when the strand is progressively tensioned as its temperature is increased'and it has been found that this can be accomplished by constructing the grooves in the heating: rolls with the grooves that first receive the 0001* strand from the supply reel being relatively deep and each succeeding groove becoming shallower in predetermined increments so that when that portion of the strand. which; has. become fully, heated leaves the heating rolls for the. cooling station ithas been subjected to the 2 maximum desired tension by traveling around the greatest circumference of the grooves of shallowest depth.

Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing cellophane sticks of the type described.

Another object of the invention is to provision of an improved method for manufacturing cellophane sticks from twisted strands of adhesively coated cellophane ribbons which includes the steps of applying heat to the strand while simultaneously, with the increase in temperature of said strand, applying a progressively increasing tension to the strand. to produce a dense and homogeneous product.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view of a typical strand utilized in the present. invention showing the manner in which the strand is formed by the twisting together of a plurality of. ribbons of cellophane.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus which may be employed in the improved method of manufacturing cellophane sticks of the type mentioned.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the apparatus of Pig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of one of the rollers of Figs. 2 and 3 taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7' illustrate typical uses of the product of the invention, being respectively a toothpick, a lollipop handle, and a simulated candy cane.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates the strand of twisted cellophane ribbons and for a more detailed description reference is hereby made to the hereinbefore referred-to patent. Briefly, however, the strand comprises a. plurality of cellophane ribbons 10 which have been coated with a heat activable adhesive and then twisted tightly together to form a flexible ropelike strand 12 which may be wound on a supply reel 14 such as that illustrated in Fig. 2.

As shown, the supply reel' 14, having the strand material 12 wound. thereon, is rotatably positioned in suitable brackets 16 adjacent: one end of a table-like support member 18 which has centrally positioned thereon a fixed guide pulley 20 through which the end of the strand 12 may be. threaded for guidance into the lowermost groove 36 of a vertically mounted roller 22 which is rotatably mounted on a vertical spindle 24 suitably fixed in the table member 18. The roller 22 has a plurality of spaced circumferential grooves which will be described in more particularity hereinafter, and adjacent the roller 22 is a second groovedroller 26' identical to the first and likewise mounted on a vertical spindle 28. Each of the rollers is provided with an annular cavity open at the bottom and into which project suitable heating elements which may, if desired, be the gas jets 30 illustrated, it being apparent that when the heating elements are energized or ignited they serve to heat the rollers which in turn heat the strand'10 as it travels in the roller grooves.

To insure uniform heating of the strand, heat is applied to both sides thereof as it traverses the rollers and this is accomplished as shown in Fig; 2 by wrapping the strand around the rollers. in a figure-8 pattern so that as the strand. enters the lowermost groove of the first roller with one side of the strand in engagement thereof and as the strand continues to the corresponding groove in the next roller the opposite side of the strand is brought into engagement with the heated: roller. This is quite clearly shown in Fig. 2 and in addition to the heating of both sides of the strand it will be observed that the figure-8 pattern. also allows greater contact of the strand with the circumference" of the roller grooves than is the case when the strand merely travels an oval path between the rollers as disclosed in my prior patent.

As shown in Fig. 3, the unheated strand is led to the heating rollers under initial tension which may be provided in any number of ways as by the adjustable prony brake 31 shown which bears on a suitable braking drum 32 attached to one end of the supply reel 14. After passing beneath the guide pulley 20 the strand is led around the circumferential grooves of the heating rollers in a figure-8 path and from the uppermost groove of the roller 26 the strand is led through a cooling station 34 in which the adhesive is set to thereby stiffen the strand which emerges as a dense, homogeneous rod-like structure which may be severed in convenient lengths for use. The strand is drawn along its path of travel around the rollers and through the cooling station by suitable pulling or drawing means (not shown) which may be a pair of feed rollers similar to those shown in my previous patent. It is the resistance to the force of the pulling means which creates the tension on the strand and in accordance with the invention this tensioning is progressively applied as the temperature of the strand is increased.

Progressive strand tensioning, substantially proportionate to strand temperature rise, is accomplished in the invention by forming the circumferential grooves in the cylindrical heating rollers with progressively decreasing depths starting from the lowermost groove 36. This being the deepest groove, each succeeding groove is an increment shallower than the preceding one and the last groove 38 at the top of the rollers is the shallowest of all. The relationship of the groove depths is illustrated in Fig. 4 where the difference between the depths of the grooves is somewhat exaggerated for purposes of illustration but it will be noted that the lowermost groove 36 has considerably greater depth than the uppermost groove 38 with the grooves 40 and 42 lying therebetween having increasingly less depth as they approach the uppermost groove 38.

The efiect of these varied depthed grooves is to provide a series of rollers traveling at the same rotational speed but having slightly increasing circumferences. Since the same amount of strand must traverse these ever increasing paths it will be apparent that as the strand becomes increasingly heated during its passage from groove to groove the tension thereon must also increase so that when the fully heated strand exits from the rollers at the top thereof it is under maximum tension with the strand ribbons fully compacted into sealing engagement with each other to form the strand into the shaped, dense and homogeneous substance which, when cooled, results in the final product.

In practice, the ribbons 10 of cellophane and coated with a heat-activable adhesive are twisted tightly together to form the initial flexible strand which is wound on the supply reel 14. This reel is then mounted in its brackets 16 and the prony brake 31 is adjusted to provide the initial tension on the strand as it is unwound. The strand is then 'fed through the guide pulley 20 and led into the deepest grooves 36 at the bottom of the rollers 22 and 26. The strand is then fed from groove to groove in a figure-8 pattern and after being fed through the shallowest grooves 38 at the top of the rollers the end of the strand is led through the cooling station 34 and engaged with the pulling means on the other side thereof. Meanwhile, the heating means 30 are energized to heat the rollers and operations are commenced by actuating the strand drawing means. As the strand is stripped off the supply reel 14 it engages the deepest groove 36 of the rollers in a cool state and under only so much tension as would be provided by the resistance of the prony brake 31. As the strand travels over the grooves of ever increasing circurnference the temperature of the strand is uniformly increased on both sides andthe heat activable adhesive starts becoming activated. As the strand continues its travel the adhesive becomes increasingly activ'sliqq and the -'and spirit of the appended claims.

tension on the strand steadily increases due to the increased circumference of the, successive grooves. As the strand approaches the top of the rollers the adhesive becomes fully activated and the tension on the strand approaches the maximum, and at the moment of egress from the uppermost grooves 38 the tension is at its greatest and in this condition the strand enters the cooling station 34 to emerge as a stiffened fully compacted rod-like material which may be severed into convenient lengths for use. Such use may comprise a toothlike as shown in Fig. 5, a lollipop handle as in Fig. 6, or a simulated candy cane as in Fig. 7. In addition to this, the

product of my invention has found ever increasing use as a beverage stirrer. These and many other uses have been found for the product of my invention.

Having now fully described my invention, it will be apparent to others that it may be accomplished in a variety of ways, and modifications of the described method are intended to be included within the purview of the invention without, however, departing from the scope In the claims whenever the term cellophane is used, this is intended to include any non-fibrous regenerated cellulosic material.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of making a substantially rigid rod-like article of manufacture from a plurality of cellophane ribbons, each coated with a heat activable adhesive and twisted together to form a flexible strand capable of being wound on a supply reel, comprising the steps of drawing said strand under tension in a figure-8 path around a pair of spaced, heated, circumferentially grooved rolls to alternately heat opposite semi-peripheral portions of said strand to activate said adhesive to cause adherence between said adhesively coated ribbons and to compact the strand, and then drawing the heated strand from said rolls through a cooling zone to set said adhesive and stiflien said strand.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the tension of the strand is progressively increased as the strand traverses the figure-8 path.

3. In a device for making a substantially rigid rod-like article of manufacture from a plurality of cellophane ribbons, each coated with a heat activable adhesive and twisted together to form a flexible strand capable of being wound on a rotatable supply reel and which includes a pair of spaced, heated, cylindrical, rotatable rolls, each of which is provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves progressively decreasing in depth from a first strand engaging groove to a last strand engaging groove, each of said grooves having a U-shaped cross-section, the method which comprises threading said strand in a figure-8 path within the grooves on said rolls beginning with the grooves of greatest depth and ending with the grooves of the least depth, then leading said strand from the last named grooves through a cooling zone, and continuously drawing said strand under tension from the supply reel around said grooves in the rolls in said figure-8 path and through the cooling zone to rotate the rolls and to progressively heat alternate and opposite semi-peripheral portions of the strand to activate the adhesive and cause adherence between said adhesivelycoated ribbons and to compact the strand and to progressively increase the tension of said strand as it is progressively heated and to finally cool the heated tensioned strand.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES'PATENTS 46,405 Tice Feb. 14, 1865 1,065,235 Goodman June 17, 1913 2,262,872 Whitehead NOV. 18, 1941 2,389,878 Symmes Nov. 27, 1945 2,488,272 Davis Nov. 15, 1949 2,558,733 Cresswell et a1. July 3, 1951 

